ON THE RISE
Hip-hop artist, Lyrical Chris, delivers his latest single, “Level 5,” an ode to his hip-hop genre of “5D rap.” The emerging artist invites listeners to his musical universe, where high vibrational, non-religious rap transcends to a whole new level.
Born and raised in Tifton, Georgia, Lyrical Chris knew he wanted to start rapping from early childhood. “My big brother used to rap, and I tried to emulate him,” shares the artist. “As I grew older, I wanted to rap all the time. At school, I had freestyle battles with my friends. At home, I listened to instrumentals and figured out how to be the best rapper I wanted to be. Those periods helped me develop into who I am as Lyrical Chris.”
When he first got started, Lyrical Chris went by “Lil Crazy.” He underwent a transformation in both sound and name as he started listening to lyrical rappers like Lupe Fiasco and Kendrick Lamar. “It made me want to change my name, because I was more lyrical sided than generic, basic rap,” explains Chris.
In 2021, Lyrical Chris debuted his first single. “Once I heard that beat, I started recording,” he shares of the experience. From there, his music took off. In 2024, he released his debut album, Prewrite. Now, in 2025, he’s working on the next project, Rough Draft, and releasing his latest single, “Level 5,” along with a music video.
Since its release, “Level 5” has garnered positive feedback by excited listeners. “People are loving it,” tells Lyrical Chris. “They really get an understanding of what I mean by Level 5. It’s about putting you in a fifth dimensional consciousness. Good times and good vibes. As you play it over and over, it brings great things to you in life.”
Demonstrating an evolution from his original sound, “Level 5” introduces a whole new sound to the industry. “People are saying it’s different than what they hear in mainstream rap right now,” Lyrical Chris explains. “I want people to get that I’m creating a new genre. I’m meeting you on Level 5, not the traditional Level 3 of 3D. It’s a new level of rap I’m bringing myself and other rappers to. It’s heaven on earth.”
Lyrical Chris’s musical movement of “5D rap” follows ten rules, which are described on his website, in each song. To create his original sound, Lyrical Chris explores instrumentals until he finds one that speaks to him. “As soon as I heard the one for Level 5, I created the hook. Everything else went along with it. I rapped things in my head as I heard the beat—the subject matter, how I wanted the lyrics to form, the chorus, the verses. Then I played around with the instrumentals for the bridge and outro.” Instead of working with a producer, Lyrical Chris enjoys using instrumentals that have already been produced. “It’s better when they have material out and I can look at it like a buffet—they put food out, and I try and see if I like it, then I get more of it.”
In addition to being a monumental rapper, Lyrical Chris is a plant-based eater. “I’ve been vegan for eight years. Being on that diet has helped me be a better artist. I’ve written better songs and have a clearer mind on how I want to create. There aren’t a million things in my head interfering with what I want to put out. It lets me zero in on what I’m trying to do and want to do, my vision as a rapper.”
Make sure to stay connected to Lyrical Chris on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
ON THE RISE
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LOS ANGELES — Damion Seraglio Bond and Hannah Leyla are turning up the heat with “Pina in Your Colada,” a playful tropical duet built around flirtation, humor and the kind of chorus that practically demands a room full of people sing along.
Featured as the opening track on Tropical Vacay, “Pina in Your Colada” drops listeners directly into vacation mode. Tiki lights are glowing, steel drums are playing, drinks are flowing and Hannah and Damion are trading lines back and forth like two people who have decided subtlety can wait until after the trip.
That exaggerated approach was intentional.
“I worried that if I hewed too closely to a serious sexual expression, today’s rather Me-Too sensitive folks might misinterpret the point of the song,” songwriter and creator Lloyd Eric Cotsen said. “By keeping it light-hearted and even cheesy over the top, it’s clearly aiming for fun.”
Cotsen envisioned the track as the kind of local favorite heard at a packed tropical bar, where vacationers already know every word and become part of the performance. That idea shaped the song’s crowd vocals and call-and-response structure, including Hannah’s equally confident answers to Damion’s advances.
Creating that chemistry, however, became one of the biggest challenges behind the track.
Cotsen used AI music platform Suno to develop the recording, but directing the male and female vocals proved considerably harder than expected. He ultimately worked through more than 160 versions while trying to get the exchanges right, eventually bringing elements from separate versions to a sound engineer to create the final result.
That persistence helped produce one of the song's defining elements: a performance that feels less like a conventional studio recording and more like stumbling into a beach bar where the entire crowd already knows the chorus.
“Recreating the vibe of a live performance in a bar with a crowd finishing the lines of a song they know and love was something I would have bet Suno couldn’t do,” Cotsen said. “It did it masterfully.”
That atmosphere also made “Pina in Your Colada” a natural opener for Tropical Vacay. Cotsen wanted the album to function almost like a vacation soundtrack, maintaining a tropical atmosphere while moving between comedy, romance and more reflective moments.
“It seemed like the most fun, captured the tropical spirit of the album best,” he said of choosing the song as its first track.
The project continues Cotsen’s genre-hopping approach to songwriting. His work has moved through folk-country, blues, soul, gospel and dance, while Tropical Vacay gives him room to explore Trop Rock and the stories that emerge when people temporarily leave their everyday lives behind.
For Hannah and Damion, that means a relationship that is flirtatious, competitive and occasionally more complicated than the beach-bar antics suggest. Cotsen describes the pair as having a “playfully combative romantic relationship,” with Hannah written as a confident character who can give Damion every bit as much as she gets.
And the fictional duo may eventually move beyond the digital world. Cotsen plans to host a concert with live singers performing selections from his catalog within the next year while continuing work on several additional albums.
For now, “Pina in Your Colada” offers a simpler invitation: turn it up, embrace the ridiculousness and pretend the nearest drink comes with a tiny umbrella.
“Pina in Your Colada” is available now on Spotify as part of Tropical Vacay.
